The Crusades - Research Paper Example

Critical Analysis of the First Crusade as a Response to the Church Reform in the 11th Century Critical Analysis of the First Crusade as a Response to the Church Reform in the 11th Century Introduction The Crusades, primarily, can be considered as the European nations’ responses to the Christian authority’s call for expeditionary war against the Muslims…

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Scholars commonly attempt to mark crusades as the Europeans’ military expeditions against the Muslims who were then occupying the holy places in Jerusalem. In this sense, there were about four major crusades which were led during this period. But the most successful one of all these crusades was the First one in which the Crusaders could successfully occupy Antioch and Jerusalem, two most important cities of the Muslims.1 But the First Crusade was important not only for its success but also for its historical, sociopolitical and cultural background. Indeed, though on the surface level, it was a response to Pope Urban’s (II) call, it was, in reality, the reflection of an age which had experienced heavy conflict between Monarchy and Church. During the 11th century, the conflict between the State and the Church began with the Investiture Controversy which was a “dispute between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII concerning who would appoint bishops”2. Beside this state-church conflict, the whole religious system got divided into a number of groups and subgroups. But the most important religious schism was the East-West Schism. Scholars claim that along with other socioeconomic and cultural factors, the state-church conflict and the East-West Schism played a crucial role in preparing the plot of the First Crusade. Moreover, this was the only one successful whereas all of the following crusades ended in smoke. In this paper, I will discuss what factors work behind the materialization of the First Crusade and why it became successful whereas the Second Crusade failed. Though it is commonly believed that the first Crusade was mainly the result of Common Europeans’ spontaneous response to Pope Urban’s (II) call, it was basically the outcome of the reformist soul of the early 11th century as well as a reaction to other contemporary sociopolitical and religious events of that era.3 A close scrutiny of the historical contexts of the First Crusade will necessarily show that it was related to the sociopolitical and religious zeal and the state-church conflict in a number of ways. So, the First Crusade was more of a sociopolitical event than a pure spiritual response of the common people. In fact, Pope Urban’s religious stance tends to hide other sociopolitical aspects of the First Crusade. This religious trend of the crusade further tends to hide the fact that though Pope Urban could motivate common people by manipulating their religiosity, his call for the Crusade was not purely religious. Rather it was Pope Urban’s attempt to consolidate his power over the state.4 In fact, due to the lack of any primary document on Pope Urban’s intention behind the First Crusade, the event remains open to interpretation. Historians’ interpretations about the drives of the First Crusades are based mainly on three points: a. the 11th century religious reform movement, b. the Seldjuk’s or the Muslims’ threat which the Eastern Roman Orthodoxy was facing during those days, c. consolidation of Papacy’s hold on the state’s power as well as on entire European Christendom. A critical analysis of the factors behind the First Crusade will show that all of these three causes had played equal role in organizing the First Crusade. Seldjuk’s Threat in the East as a Primary Cause of First Crusade Some historians often attempt to underestimate the
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...?Jerry Ciacho November 20, The Crusades The Crusades played a big role in the history during the Middle Ages also known as the Dark Ages. This series of holy wars between the medieval Christians and Muslims impinged on many Europeans. Even children were involved and lost their lives in the long battle of this religious war. The outcomes of the Crusades on Europe during this era became a significant aspect in evolving and in the development of the European civilization, affecting all aspects of life. These include the riches and control of the Catholic Church. Thus, it further increased and expanded their influence and supremacy, placing the Christian legion and resources under their full...

...?The Crusades The Crusades were the holy wars of the Christians to take back lands forcibly taken by the invading Muslims. The research focuses on the origins of the Crusades. The research includes the political, economic, and social aspect of the contest. The Crusades theme focuses on the evolution of the crusades (an evolution over time) to curtail the rapidly expanding Muslim empire. Origins of the crusades. There are many origins of the Crusades. The Crusades movement is a series of religious wars. The Popes wrote encyclicals and gave orations for the necessity to implement the...

...? The Crusades: The Muslim Perspective. The Crusades: The Muslim Perspective. The historical study of the Crusades, as of any other issue in history, tends to be viewed through a subjective lens. Both autobiographical and first-hand accounts of significant historical events, or their later interpretation by scholars, are prone to distortion by this subjective view. This is particularly true of the Crusades because a considerable proportion of the historical accounts are recounted either as first-hand experiences or as scholarly accounts of the Crusaders and the clerics of the western church. This leads to a very confined, narrow understanding of the...

...Saladin Before Saladin came to be, there was accumulated tension among the Christians and Muslims, which led to vicious religious wars referred to as crusades. Crusades describe a series of religious expeditionary wars undertaken to fulfill a solemn vow to acquire or liberate holy lands. These were common among the Christian and Muslim forces who sought assert their claim across the land during the middle ages. Such confrontations were leader by great leaders of either side guided by religious beliefs and drive for power. Cities and towns of religious interest both to Christians and to Muslims such as Damascus and Jerusalem were often the cause of crusades. Such expeditions were...

...?The Crusades Task: Introduction The war between Christians and Muslims has been there since ages ago. This makes it hard to solve the current struggles that increase religious intolerance and hatred among the adherents of the two factions (Runciman 1987, p.176). Despite the role of today’s leaders to strike harmony in the two religions, it is still impossible because during the earlier crusades popes and bishops killed others for domination. First Crusade In the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages, societies witnessed religious conflicts called the Crusades started by the Latin Catholic Church to safeguard Christian interests. For example, the First Crusade occurred between 1095 and 1099 with its origins being France. However... , it was...

...The Crusades The word 'Crusade' is derived from the word "Cross" and the initial goal of the campaigns was to repossess the holy of Jerusalem from the Muslim conquerors.
There were number of campaigns on this regard and as many as 8 major movements are documented. The four earlier Crusades mentioned by historians are:
The first Crusade, 1095-1101;
The second Crusade, by Louis VII, 1145-47;
The third Crusade, by Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur-de-Lion, 1188-92;
The fourth Crusade, the trump of Constantinople, 1204;
The fifth Crusade:
The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) was fought...

...My 25 March 2007 Christians and Jews During The Crusades This paper compares the religious traditions of Christians and Jews during the time of the crusades. Comparisons between the two religious traditions are presented on: allegorical scriptural interpretation, ideas of holy war, manuscript illumination, role of women, attitude toward slavery, acceptance of Greek science, mysticism, asceticism, view of Jerusalem, view of the religious “other”, and religious poetry.
One of the important Medieval Jewish texts is the Sepher Yetzirah, a Kabalistic text
from 200 A.D., which is:
“...considered to be an Allegorical Parallel between the Idealism of Numbers and Letters and the various parts of the...

...Word Count 578 Generally, the term Crusade refers to the numerous wars fought between Christian groups and non-Christians. They were often foughtagainst Muslims from the establishment of the 4th Century to the 15th Century. The Crusades were usually wars that were sanctioned by the Church or other Christian governments and were often believed to be holy wars that were backed by God.
“A Crusade is a special war or military expedition carried on under that standard [Cross] as the characteristic symbol of its object either of conquest or vengeance or of the conversion of people to the Christian Faith by force of arms.” (MacIntyre 75).
This provides the general definition of the term as it...

...﻿ ‘The Crusades’, edited by S. J. Allen and Emilie Amt, and Memoirs of Usamah Ibn Munqidh, which is a translation by Phillip Hitti, are two texts that give account of the period of crusades which were fought in the medieval period, from 1095, between Moslims and Christians. Crusades were holy wars to free Jerusalem, the holy city of Christians from the Turks’ occupation. After a request from Byzantine Emperor, Alexis II, Pope Urban II exhorted Christian from other European States to fight against the Turks. After the sermon of Pope, the Christians launched crusades against Turks.
The first text comprises of eyewitness account of the sermon of Pope Urban II and the...

...The Crusades is considered as one of the most important historical events in the world witnessing a fight between two dominating religions of the world. The documentary “The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross” narrates that history and how the two religion shaped up against each other in one of the longest and fieriest battle history of the world. One of the key impacts of the war was the obvious loss of life of millions of people on both sides and war continued to keep Europe and Middle East in turmoil for over two centuries. What is critical to note however, is the fact that it increased the influence of Catholic Church and further strengthened its influence on monarchs and kings? It was also because of...

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